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Category: Automotive

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Auto and Car news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Fiat Chrysler Says Peugeot Talks Progressing Despite GM Lawsuit

    Fiat Chrysler Says Peugeot Talks Progressing Despite GM Lawsuit

    Fiat Chrysler (FCA) said on Thursday talks with Peugeot owner PSA Group to create a $50 billion carmaking group were going well, despite FCA being sued for “substantial damages” by General Motors late on Wednesday. General Motors (GM) filed the lawsuit in the United States, alleging FCA had bribed United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials over many years to corrupt the bargaining process and gain advantages, costing GM billions of dollars.

    “Talks are progressing smoothly,” an FCA spokesman said on Thursday about discussions with PSA to create the world’s fourth-biggest automaker. Shares in FCA were down 3.4 percent, while PSA shares were 1.4 per cent lower. Asked whether the lawsuit might lead to a review of the two companies’ valuations in the proposed merger deal, a source close to FCA replied: “No.”

    In a letter to employees, FCA Chief Executive Mike Manley said: “We are astonished by this filing, both it is content and its timing. We can only assume it was intended to disrupt our proposed merger with PSA.”

    FCA will vigorously defend itself against this “meritless” lawsuit, the letter, which was seen by Reuters, said. “We will not be slowed down by this act,” Manley said, adding: “Let’s keep the performance up as it has clearly got some of our competitors worried.”

    PSA declined to comment on the GM lawsuit and its potential impact on the merger talks.

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  • Jaguar Land Rover Chief Wants Alliances, Not A Merger

    Jaguar Land Rover Chief Wants Alliances, Not A Merger

    Luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover’s chief executive told Reuters he is open to more alliances to lower the costs of developing technology but is not looking for a full-blown corporate merger. “We feel the pressure” from demands to slash carbon emissions and develop electric vehicles, Jaguar Land Rover chief Ralf Speth said in an interview on the sidelines of the Los Angeles auto show.

    But to the question of whether the company and its parent, Tata Motors Ltd. are seeking a merger for Jaguar Land Rover, Speth said: “The answer is no. We can really survive on our own.”

    The British luxury sedan and SUV maker is “always open” to discussions of technology alliances and component sharing with other companies, Speth said. Earlier this year, the maker of Jaguar sedans and Land Rover SUVs agreed with German luxury automaker BMW AG to develop electric car parts jointly.

    Jaguar Land Rover currently sells an electric Jaguar I-Pace sport utility vehicle and has said the next generation of its top-of-the-line XJ sedan will be all-electric. The company has not said when it will launch the new XJ.

    “There’s no question in our mind that electric is the drive train of the future,” Eberhardt said. “But from a customer adoption point of view it takes longer than anticipated.”

    Jaguar Land Rover has a product lineup, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, which could meet tighter European CO2 emissions limits which begin taking effect next year, but compliance will depend on the mix of vehicles customers buy, Speth said.

    “In Europe, the mix (of vehicles) is encouraging, but not at the moment at the level we can say we are compliant right at the beginning,” he said. “But there is time to go. We are cautiously optimistic.”

    A lack of public electric vehicle recharging infrastructure remains a challenge in selling electric vehicles in the U.S. and Europe, Eberhardt and Speth said.

    Jaguar Land Rover was unprofitable through the first half of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, hit by Brexit-related production shutdowns and weaker demand in China. But Speth said the second half of the year should be better than the first.

    Demand in the Chinese market is volatile, though Jaguar Land Rover sales have seen “double-digit growth” in recent months, Speth said. But that growth has been from a low volume. Speth said he receives data on the Chinese market daily.

    Speth and JLR North America chief Joe Eberhardt were at the Los Angeles Auto Show for the North American launch of the Land Rover Defender, a modern reincarnation of sport utility vehicles identified with African safari adventures and British country estates.

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  • Volkswagen Cuts Medium-Term Outlook For Operating Profit

    Volkswagen Cuts Medium-Term Outlook For Operating Profit

    German carmaker Volkswagen on Monday cut its medium-term outlook for operating profit as the industry is being hit by a global downturn.

    VW now expects operating profit before special items to grow by at least 25% in the 2016-2020 period, down from a previous forecast of more than 30%, slides for a presentation showed.

    The Wolfsburg-based company also cut its forecast for medium-term sales growth to 20% from more than 25%.

  • Automobili Pininfarina’s Second Car To Rival The Urus

    Automobili Pininfarina’s Second Car To Rival The Urus

    It was at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show that Mahindra-owned Pininfarina showcased the world’s first luxury electric hyper-performance GT and it’s called the Battista. In fact, the company brought three models to the event. Back then, we told you that it doesn’t stop here and a new model was already in the pipeline. Speaking at a private event in Los Angeles, US, Automobili Pininfarina CEO, Michael Perschke revealed the plans of the company. He said, “We envisage a 5 model family now and by 2025 the family will be complete.”

    While deliveries of the Battista (PF0) will start in 2020, the company is already getting ready to showcase its next product – the PF1. Perschke had already said that the second car will slot somewhere between a Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Panamera Shooting Brake and a Ferrari GTC4 Lusso and of course, it will be an all-electric car. While there’s no doubting why the company is diving into the SUV segment, considering how big a global trend the segment is; it’s interesting to see Pininfarina taking the bull by the horns and streamlining its strategy for the Indian market. While it’s currently under development, and hence not much is known about it, of course, there are some details that Perschke threw some light on.

    In an exclusive interview during the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, Perschke said, “The car will have 4 seats, maybe 5 people can sit in, but it’s going to be super functional, super emotional, superb designs and it’; be a little higher, little longer than the Battista and it’s going to be super exciting and we have to do justice to this brand.” The company has now confirmed that the PF1 will come with a 4-seater configuration but with an optional rear-seat bench to offer a 5-seater variant. The interior trim will be made of rich material 90 per cent of which will be no plastic. However, it went on to state that 90 per cent of the dash will be wood.

    At a private event in Los Angeles though, a few more details were revealed and this includes the approximate price of the car. Perschke said that the second model will be priced from $200,000 ( ₹ 1.43 crore approx.) to $300,000 ( ₹ 2.15 crore) and will slot below the Battista which currently is priced at $2 million. He in fact said that the brand will never build a car which will cost less than $ 150,000 ( ₹ 1 crore approximately)

    Giving some more details about what the PF1 would look like, Luca Borgogno, Head of Design, Pininfarina said, ” The next car will be the first sustainable S-LUV (Sustainable Lifestyle utility vehicle). It will offer performance, luxury and comfort. We want to apply a low bonnet, big fender feeling and glass canopy feel to the car. We will work with suppliers to Boeing to have glass that can be darkened or lightened as the windows in the Dreamliner.” The roof canopy will also have heat reflection.

    On the dimensions front, the PF1 all-electric SUV will be 50mm lower than the Urus; it will be more than 5 metres long, more than 2 metres wide and will have an electric powertrain that will offer upto 1000 bhp. The PF1 will use 3 electric motors; 2 at back, one in front and will boast of a 50:50 weight distribution with 80 percent of weight below the H point since the batteries will be floor mounted.

    The PF1 will be based on a new platform that Pininfarina calls skateboard. The S-LUV will be the first car to be built on this platform and all future cars from Pininfarina will be based on it. The company says that the S-LUV will not be an off-roader but will be able to handle rough roads and some more. The car will come with AWD and air suspension will be part of the package.

    It is also confirmed now that the PF1 will come with 24-inch wheels which is a size bigger than the Lamborghini Urus. Of course, you’re wondering, whether it’s a limited edition model. Well, it isn’t. It was only the production of the Battista that was capped at 150 units. According to the folks at Pininfarina, the volume will vary with each model. As far as the PF1 (S-LUV) goes, it will have a minimum annual production of 1500 units. Between the Battista, PF1 and PF2, the company will not produce more than 5000 units annually.

    Production of the PF1 S-LUV will begin from 2022 and the car will be showcased for the first time as the Pura Vision Concept at the next Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

  • BMW Executive Markus Duesmann Tasked With Reviving Audi

    BMW Executive Markus Duesmann Tasked With Reviving Audi

    Volkswagen on Friday installed former BMW executive Markus Duesmann to reinvent Audi after the German premium brand lost key engineering know-how and influence in the wake of the 2015 diesel-cheating scandal. Duesmann will become chief executive of Audi as well as take on board level responsibility for research and development at Volkswagen Group on April 1 next year, the Wolfsburg-based multi-brand group said on Friday.

    Duesmann’s job will include injecting new meaning into the company’s advertising slogan “Vorsprung Durch Technik”, or “advancement through technology”, after Audi fired a raft of senior engineers in the wake of the diesel scandal. “Markus Duesmann will do everything to unlock the huge potential of the Audi brand,” Volkswagen Group Chief Executive Herbert Diess said at a press conference in Wolfsburg on Friday. Audi, based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria was a major research and development hub within Volkswagen, setting standards in aerodynamic efficiency, lightweight aluminum construction, dual-clutch gearbox technology and four-wheel-drive systems.

    But the premium brand struggled after it was discovered that engine management software, used to manipulate exhaust emissions tests at VW, was designed by Audi engineers, leading to the firing of engineering chiefs and its long-term CEO. After Audi chief Rupert Stadler was dismissed, Audi installed a sales expert, Bram Schot has interim CEO, and the brand struggled to redefine “Vorsprung Durch Technik.”

    “We need to partly refine the ‘Vorsprung’. We are working on it,” Audi’s sales chief Hildegard Wortmann told Reuters at the Frankfurt car show in September. “We don’t need little ‘Vorsprung’ stories, we need real ‘Vorsprung’ stories,” Audi’s current head of research and development, Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler told Reuters. Audi’s electric car e-tron, as well as fuel cell technology, are two pillars upon which Audi can resurrect its brand claim, Rothenpieler said. Audi’s works council chief, Peter Mosch, welcomed the appointment of an external manager. “From Markus Duesmann and his team, we expect the stable utilization of our factories and a more courageous approach.”

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  • Renault’s Delbos Vies For CEO Post As Hunt Narrows

    Renault’s Delbos Vies For CEO Post As Hunt Narrows

    Renault’s interim chief executive Clotilde Delbos has applied to take the job on a permanent basis, two sources familiar with the matter said, as the French carmaker edges towards a shortlist likely to also feature several external candidates.Financial chief Delbos was propelled to the job on a temporary basis after CEO Thierry Bollore’s ousting in mid-October, as Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan clear the decks of managers closely associated with the Carlos Ghosn era.

    Ghosn, who chaired the alliance between the two companies, was arrested in Japan a year ago on financial misconduct charges he denies, and Renault and Nissan have been striving to repair their strained ties since.

    Delbos, who joined Renault in 2012, had put herself forward for the CEO job but was not certain to feature on the shortlist of frontrunners, despite being one of the few likely internal candidates, one of the sources said.

    That selection, which would comprise around three names, is expected to be turned over to the group’s nominations committee in the coming days, the source added.

    Delbos declined to comment when asked by Reuters earlier this week whether she had applied. Renault also declined to comment on Friday.The French carmaker, chaired by Jean-Dominique Senard, a former executive at tire maker Michelin parachuted in following the Ghosn scandal, is expected to choose a new CEO by year-end so that the group can try and fully refocus on its operations.

    Like many peers, both Nissan and Renault are struggling with falling sales in a faltering global auto market.

    Several heavyweight external candidates have been cited as good fits for Renault, and the French government, which has a 15% stake in the carmaker, has already made clear it was not opposed to a non-French national getting the job.

    Didier Leroy, a senior Toyota executive who was already seen as a potential replacement for Ghosn when the latter was close to departing last year, has once again been cited in the recruitment process, two other sources close to the situation said.

    “I do not pay attention to these rumors and remain 100%focused on my job at Toyota, where I enjoy a very trustful relationship with Akio Toyoda,” Leroy said, referring to Toyota’s president in a statement sent to Reuters through the Japanese carmaker.

    One of the sources said that Patrick Koller, the Franco-German CEO of car parts maker Faurecia, and Luca de Meo, the Italian boss of Volkswagen-owned SEAT, also ticked many of the boxes for recruiters, namely as both spoke French.

  • Nissan Recalls Nearly 400,000 Vehicles Over Braking System Defect In The US

    Nissan Recalls Nearly 400,000 Vehicles Over Braking System Defect In The US

    Japan’s Nissan Motor has said it is recalling 394,025 cars in the United States over a braking system defect, causing concerns that a brake fluid leak could potentially lead to a fire. The leak into internal circuit boards will trigger a warning to drivers, which if ignored may lead to a fire in “rare instances,” Nissan said in a filing dated Nov. 8 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under recall number 18V-601. “… if the warning is ignored and the vehicle continues to be operated in this condition, the brake fluid leak may potentially create an electrical short in the actuator circuit, which in rare instances, may lead to a fire,” the Japanese automaker said.

    The recall, which was reported on Friday by U.S. media, includes Maxima sedans from 2016 through 2018, Infiniti QX60 luxury crossovers from 2017 to 2019, Murano SUVs from 2015 to 2018 and Pathfinder SUVs from 2017 to 2019, the filing showed.

    The document does not mention whether the brake system defect actually caused any fires or injuries.

    The company also reportedly said that it was working to fix the issue and that owners of the affected cars will be notified starting early next month.

    “Once the remedy is available, owners will receive a final notification letter asking them to bring their vehicle to an authorized Nissan dealer or INFINITI retailer to have the remedy work completed at no cost for parts or labor,” it told NPR in an emailed statement.

    The development comes less than two months after NHTSA opened a preliminary investigation into 553,000 Nissan Rogue sport utility vehicles after reports of their automatic emergency braking systems engaging without warning or an obstruction.

    Improper inspections of brakes, steering wheels, speed measurements and vehicle stability had also caused the company to issue a recall of several thousand vehicles in Japan late last year.

    In September, the company recalled 1.3 million vehicles to fix a problem with its backup camera displays.

  • Ford Bets On An Electric Mustang To Charge Its Turnaround

    Ford Bets On An Electric Mustang To Charge Its Turnaround

    The Mustang Mach E electric sport utility vehicle Ford Motor Co unveiled in Los Angeles on Sunday is more than another car for the storied automaker. The Mach E has become within Ford a high-profile test for a restructuring that has been marred by profit warnings, costly quality problems and the troubled launch this year of another important vehicle, the Ford Explorer sport-utility.

    For Chief Executive Jim Hackett, the Mach E’s aggressive design and futuristic interior represent a long-awaited, visible sign of the overhaul of the company’s product creation process that he has tried to explain to skeptical Wall Street analysts for the past two years.

    By accelerating the “clock speed” of vehicle development, cutting overlapping product architectures to just five from 13 and extending the company’s most successful brands to new products, Ford could slash $20 billion out of a five-year, 2018-2023 product plan, Hackett told Reuters.

    “This is the first thing we generated out of this new thinking,” Hackett said in an interview ahead of the Mach E unveiling. “We have a lot more coming.”

    For Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr., the Mustang Mach E puts together two previously conflicting goals: His desire for Ford to be a leader in clean cars and make the automaker carbon-neutral by 2030, and his personal love of the Mustang and its growling V-8 engine.

    “We are really pushing our chips in on the table with this vehicle,” Ford said in an interview ahead of the Mach E’s unveiling. The automaker has said it will spend $11.5 billion developing electric and hybrid models by 2022.

    The Mach E started with humble ambitions. The SUV originally was to be what Ted Cannis, Ford’s global director for electrification, called a “compliance” play – an electric variant of a front-wheel-drive internal combustion vehicle, aimed at generating emissions credits to comply with clean air regulations at low cost. There was no link to the Mustang’s muscle car image.

    Boring electric cars were the norm for Ford and other legacy automakers. Then Tesla Inc in 2013 launched its Model S – an electric car that looked like a sporty European luxury sedan with a giant screen for a dashboard and entertainment and functional features that could be upgraded with over-the-air software updates. Tesla’s market value is now higher than Ford’s.

    Ford’s own customer research showed dull electric cars were a mistake, Cannis and other executives said. Those doubts came to a head in mid-2017 when Hackett, then newly appointed, reviewed the design for the electric SUV with Executive Vice President Jim Farley, who has owned seven of the cars starting with a 1965 model he restored when he was 14 years old.

    “It’s not good enough,” Hackett recalled saying. Farley agreed, and Hackett said, “We tear it up.”

    The team designing the vehicle started over, using a new architecture engineered from the start to be a battery-electric vehicle, instead of the original plan to use a modified version of an internal combustion engine vehicle, Ford executives said.

    The Mustang muscle car’s distinctive “shark face” front end and body proportions were adapted to a new skin, and under the floor Ford designed a new battery pack that can deliver up to 300 miles (483 km) of range in an “extended range” version.

    The re-do had to be accomplished much faster than normal to stay on target for a fall 2020 launch.

    “We were super behind time,” said exterior designer Chris Walter during a briefing on the vehicle ahead of the Los Angeles debut.

    A concept for new dashboard software and a display using a 15.5-inch (39 cm) diagonal screen was pulled together in just 90 days by a 15-person group that called itself Team Menlo – a reference to Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory. A paper prototype of the new screen used an empty Keurig coffee pod to represent a large control knob.

    The overhaul cost money, but Ford product development chief Hau Thai-tang told Reuters the dedicated electric vehicle architecture should allow for 25% to 30% improvements in manufacturing efficiency to help offset the cost.

    The final call on using the Mustang name came from the top, and was not given easily.

    “I was dead set against it, initially,” Bill Ford said. Ford said he started to warm to the idea as he saw the styling and the performance data for the vehicle.

    Ford said he did not grant his approval until earlier this year after driving a prototype.

    “It felt like a Mustang experience to me,” he said.

    This is not the first time a challenge to reinvent the Mustang has emboldened Ford employees to break with convention during a rough patch in the company’s history.

    The original Mustang launched in 1964 was derived from a mainstream Falcon compact car, and quickly became a hit, far outselling the company’s projections.

    In the early 1990s, with the economy in a slump, a small group of Ford employees rebelled against a plan to transform the rear-wheel-drive Mustang into a front-wheel-drive car developed by Ford’s then-partner, Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corp. That project became a laboratory for cutting the costs of product engineering by putting representatives of different functions on the same team.

    The Mach E is another turning point, Hackett said. “The science project platform for EVs is now gone.”

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  • Panasonic Develops Battery Management Technology

    Panasonic Develops Battery Management Technology

    Panasonic has developed a new battery management technology that measures a battery’s electrochemical impedance, which is an effective method of evaluating the residual value of lithium-ion batteries in devices. This technology is expected to be applied to various devices that use lithium-ion battery modules with many battery cells stacked in series and to future vehicles. Panasonic has developed this technology in collaboration with Professor Masahiro Fukui of Ritsumeikan University. Panasonic developed a new battery monitoring IC test chip, measurement algorithm, and software, while Ritsumeikan University evaluated the performance using actual batteries.

    The newly developed battery management technology makes it possible to measure electrochemical impedance using the AC current excitation method for lithium-ion stacked battery modules that are installed in operating devices. Furthermore, this technology aims to enable the evaluation of residual value by way of a deterioration diagnosis and failure estimation based on an analysis of acquired measurement data. This will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society where future lithium-ion batteries can be reused and recycled.

    Conventional electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is widely used as a non-destructive method for evaluating lithium-ion batteries. This measurement method requires an application specific measuring instrument and a large thermostatic chamber that keeps the temperature of the battery constant, and it was necessary to measure each cell in the laboratory.

    Conventional BMIC measures the individual battery voltage of 6 to 14 lithium-ion battery cells stacked in series. By using multiple BMICs, BMS acquires battery cell voltage data from several up to 200 cells connected in series, monitors the battery, and ensures its safe use. In addition, BMS calculates the remaining driving range and usable time by estimating the state of charge and the state of health.

    The newly developed BMIC test chip has a built-in electrochemical impedance measurement function using the AC current excitation method in addition to these conventional functions. The electrochemical impedance measurement is achieved by 15 fully parallel analog / digital converters and an AC current excitation circuit with pulse modulation from 0.1 Hz to 5 KHz and a complex voltage / complex current conversion circuit built in the BMIC. Therefore, the BMIC chip can measure the electrochemical impedance of a battery in operation without significantly changing the configuration of the current BMS installed in the battery.

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  • Daimler Seeks 1 Billion Euros In Savings At Mercedes-Benz By Cutting Jobs

    Daimler Seeks 1 Billion Euros In Savings At Mercedes-Benz By Cutting Jobs

    Tougher emissions rules will hit Daimler’s profits in 2020 and 2021, prompting the German carmaker to seek more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in savings from cutting staff costs at its Mercedes-Benz business by the end of 2022, it said on Thursday.

    Daimler shares were down 2.3% in early trading at 52.17 euros, the biggest decline on Germany’s DAX blue-chip index, which was down 0.3%.

    Management positions will be cut by around 10%, and the company said it would also seek more than 300 million euros from cutting personnel costs – plus another 250 million euros in fixed costs – at its trucks business.

    Daimler said it needed to sell more electric vehicles to meet tougher European Union rules which force carmakers to cut carbon dioxide emissions from cars by 37.5% by 2030 compared with 2021 levels, and following a 40% cut between 2007 and 2021.

    The company said it expected to achieve a return on sales from operating activities at Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans of at least 4% in 2020 and at least 6% in 2022.

    Mercedes-Benz expects car sales to grow by around 3% in 2020, but said potential trade tariffs and Brexit could depress the return on sales by up to 1%.

    Earlier this year, Daimler had said it hoped to achieve a return on sales of 3% to 5% at Mercedes-Benz Cars.

  • Toyota subsidiary to set up another airbag plant in northern Vietnam

    Toyota subsidiary to set up another airbag plant in northern Vietnam

    Japanese auto parts maker Toyoda Gosei plans to build another airbag plant in Thai Binh Province at a cost of $16.8 million next year.

    Work on the plant will begin in May 2020. When completed in October 2021 it will help increase the company’s capacity in Vietnam to 25 million airbags annually, Toyoda Gosei said in a statement on Wednesday. It will employ 700 workers initially, increasing to 2,000 by the end of 2023.

    Toyoda Gosei, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp., built its first plant in Vietnam in Hai Phong City in 2004. Last July it opened a $24.6-million second plant at the Tien Hai Industrial Park in Thai Binh Province.

    It plans to increase the capacity of the Hai Phong factory to meet increasing orders. Airbags produced in Vietnam are exported mainly to Japan but also to other markets such as ASEAN and North America.

    Established in 1949, Toyoda Gosei has 67 facilities and factories in 17 countries around the world.

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  • Cars to enter airports fee free for 10-15 minutes

    Cars to enter airports fee free for 10-15 minutes

    From 2020, Vietnam’s airports will allow cars to wait 10-15 minutes while dropping or picking up passengers. Each airport will have its specific no-toll timeframe, which will be decided by the government, said Vu The Phiet, General Director of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), which manages 21 civilian airports in the country.

    ACV is currently upgrading systems to collect fees digitally, including the function to record the time cars enter and leave the airports.

    For instance, cars entering and leaving Tan Son Nhat or Noi Bai airports will have their license plates photographed while entering. When leaving, if the cars are still within their allowed timeframe, the barrier at the fee collection point will lift on its own, otherwise the cars will have to pay to exit, Phiet said.

    Currently, cars are charged VND15,000 ($0.65) for the first 60 minutes after they enter the airports, and VND5,000 ($0.22) for every 30 minutes thereafter.

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  • 2020 Honda City To Be Unveiled This Month In Thailand

    2020 Honda City To Be Unveiled This Month In Thailand

    The next-generation Honda City has been under development for a while now, and the popular-selling sedan is now confirmed to be making its global debut later this month. The 2020 Honda City will be officially unveiled on November 25, 2019, in Thailand; ahead of the Bangkok Motor Show, while the India launch is expected to take place sometime next year. The all-new City is set to get a complete overhaul and is expected to grow in proportions. The Honda promises a sportier exterior design and it will take inspiration from the new Civic and Accord models in the automaker’s line-up, also bringing a premium touch.

    The fifth-generation Honda City (seventh-gen globally) is expected revamped headlamps, a larger and wider chrome grille, and slightly curvaceous silhouette. Expect to the C-shaped LED taillights also making their way on the sedan, as part of the Honda family design. Inside, the car is expected to borrow heavily from the new generation Jazz, sharing the same underpinnings too. The dashboard design is likely to be the same sporting a new touchscreen infotainment system and a digital instrument console. Honda could introduce new connected car tech on the 2020 City along the lines of what MG And Kia offer on their respective cars.

    The big update will be under the hood of the 2020 Honda City that will get the new 1.0-liter VTEC three-pot turbocharged petrol motor for the Thai market. The turbo mill marks a comeback on the car since the first-generation version was introduced in the 1980s, and Honda says the turbocharged engine will provide 33 percent better fuel efficiency while offering improved performance. The unit is expected to churn out about 120 bhp and 200 Nm of peak torque. The smaller motor has been deemed necessary for the sedan to meet the Phase 2 Eco Car criteria in Thailand, which mandates Euro 5 compliance and a fuel consumption figure not exceeding 23.25 kmpl.

    It will also come with the new dual-motor Intelligent Multi-mode Drive (i-MMD) hybrid powertrain that debuted on the all-new Jazz earlier this year. The tried and tested 1.5-liter naturally aspirated iVTEC petrol will continue to be on offer as well churning out about 118 bhp, while the 1.5-liter iDTEC diesel will also remain on offer, particularly in India. India is expected to get a hybrid version of the City, which will help achieve higher efficiency figures and lower emissions as well. Transmission options will include a 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual or a CVT unit, depending on the engine and the market.

    The Honda City remains for ASEAN as well as Latin American markets and will go on sale in other South Asian countries this year. Honda Car India is likely to showcase the model at the 2020 Auto Expo, and we will get a fair idea on the pricing at the same time as well. That being said, do expect a marginal hike in prices when the model goes on sale next year.

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  • All-New Ferrari Roma Revealed

    All-New Ferrari Roma Revealed

    The new Ferrari Roma is here! It is a brand new model from the Italian marquee and it is one of those cars which make you go weak in the knees, even when you look at it in photographs. The flared fenders, sleek headlamps, and body-colored grille are a departure from traditional Ferrari styling but stunning nonetheless! The Roma is a nod to the Italian ‘La Dolce Vita’ concept which means to live a life full of pleasure and luxury and sure enough, the way the Roma looks and the price tag with which it will come.

    It definitely means that the Roma will be an exclusive affair and it sits in accordance with Ferrari’s plan of launching three brand new cars this year and one can see it on roads, globally, in the first quarter of 2020.

    Sleek lines, elegant silhouette and its understated class, make the Ferrari Roma look like a million bucks!

    Sitting in line with the typical Ferrari design, the Roma looks more like a concept and less of a production car. Sleek lines, elegant silhouette and its understated class, make the Ferrari Roma look like a million bucks! The car is longish at 4.6 metres in length and weighs in at 1,472 kg (dry weight).

    The 4.0-liter turbo V8 sits between the front and the middle and doles out about 620 bhp at 5,750-7,500 rpm along with churning out a massive 760 Nm of peak torque at 3,000-5,750 rpm. There is an 8-speed DCT gearbox which was taken from the SF90 Stradale! The Ferrari Roma has a top-speed in excess of 320 kmph and does the 0-100 kmph sprint in 3.4 seconds. The 0-200 kmph sprint takes 9.3 seconds.

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  • Tesla To Build New Plant And Design Centre In Germany

    Tesla To Build New Plant And Design Centre In Germany

    Tesla will build its first European factory and design center near Berlin, giving the U.S. electric car pioneer the coveted “Made in Germany” label just as local rivals Audi, BMW and Mercedes prepare to launch competing cars.

    Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk announced the move at a prestigious German car awards ceremony late on Tuesday and said the new plant would make batteries, powertrains and cars – starting with the Model Y sports utility vehicle.

    “Everyone knows German engineering is outstanding for sure. You know that is part of the reason why we are locating Gigafactory Europe in Germany,” Musk said at the ceremony in Berlin.

    The plan is a big boost for Germany as a centre for manufacturing after BMW and Mercedes in recent years chose to build new factories in Hungary, and after its auto industry was hit hard by Volkswagen’s admission in 2015 that it cheated U.S. diesel emissions tests.

    Germany’s powerful manufacturing industry has been slowing, with data on Thursday set to show whether Europe’s biggest economy has slipped into recession for the first time since 2013.

    Tesla is struggling to ramp up production and has yet to prove it can be consistently profitable as rivals including Audi-owner Volkswagen retool plants to mass-produce electric cars.

    Musk said the factory would be near Berlin’s new Brandenburg international airport, diversifying the Silicon Valley firm’s production beyond the United States at a time when global trade tariffs make exports more difficult. Besides Europe, Tesla is opening a factory in Shanghai.

    Tesla’s proposed factory will be within commuting distance of Poland, where labor costs are cheaper, a rival manufacturer – who also looked at the site – told Reuters.

    “Tesla’s decision to build an ultra-modern factory for electric cars in Germany is further proof of the appeal of Germany as an automotive hub,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Wednesday.

    “We think we now have the chance, in the coming years, to become an important international center in this future-oriented sector,” he said.

    The German government has earmarked financial support for making electric car battery cells locally as a way to secure manufacturing jobs as tougher emissions rules threaten demand for older technologies, like diesel engines.

    Dietmar Woidke, the premier of the Brandenburg state that surrounds Berlin, said any official support given to Tesla would be in accordance with European Union rulesAltmaier said there had been no discussion so far about any subsidies for Tesla’s plans, adding the company would be treated like all other carmakers.

    In a high-profile example of the impact of Brexit, Musk said he picked Germany for his new factory over Britain because of uncertainty over the nation’s exit from the European Union.

    “Brexit made it too risky to put a gigafactory in the UK,” he said in an interview with industry website Auto Express.

    Germany’s biggest labor union, the influential IG Metall, was quick to welcome Tesla’s plan. “This strengthens Berlin as an industrial location and creates jobs. We hope this sets an example,” said Birgit Dietze, IG Metall’s regional head.

    Even Germany’s auto industry association, VDA, welcomed the arrival of a U.S. competitor.

    “Elon Musk’s announcement shows how important Germany is as a location for producing electric vehicles in Europe,” VDA said. “We don’t shy away from competition, quite the opposite.”

    German carmakers and suppliers are preparing to build more than 150 electrified vehicles by 2023, VDA said.

    While Germany’s renowned car industry is mainly based in the south of the country, the capital has become a hub for start-ups and has attracted many creative and technology firms since the fall of the Berlin Wall three decades ago.

    “Tesla is coming to Brandenburg with a big investment,” said state premier Woidke, without giving details “We lobbied for this for a long time in intensive talks and with good arguments.”

    Berlin’s minister in charge of economic affairs, Ramona Pop, told public broadcaster RBB there had been talks about creating 6,000 to 7,000 jobs in production alone, with hundreds or even thousands more in areas such as design, software and research.

    Musk’s appearance at the awards ceremony is another example of Tesla’s efforts to give its cars the German stamp of quality.

    It already has an engineering firm in Pruem that specializes in automated manufacturing systems for battery factories and has tested its cars on the Nordschleife, the notorious

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